BUILDING & CONTEXT II
Context is external elements that influence an object. Context determine the architectural style, building material selection and site layout, which is very important in creating effective design and it promote continuity between the building and local circumstances either. During 1900s the elements of context are mostly considering in physical and non-physical. Buildings, roads and land contour are example of physical elements while the non-physical elements are local culture, weather condition, and etc. There are opportunities for developments when building erected in natural and built environments. In response to socio cultural, economical and political needs, buildings are conceived to house, support and inspire a range of human activities.
I think that, the context of buildings is still as important as from the past to present. Century ago, context tend to be more on creating harmony between people and nature but recent years, it seems to be considering and valuing responses particular to the context. In a century ago, the context are studied to design a building that has same rhythm with surrounding such as the existing pattern and characteristics of the façade fabric which provide clues or starting points for approaching site development as well as building design, influencing its configuration and use of materials, textures and colors to create a sense of harmony in the surrounding. Nowadays, the buildings are more iconic compared to the surrounding. They studied the context of the surrounding and design a buildings then applied into the design process such as they studied the sun path and wind path to promote ventilation or reduce the sunlight penetrating in the building by the placing the opening in a way. The context are applied in the design process while determine the building form and try to make the building outstanding compared to the surrounding.
FALLING WATER
FRANK LLYOD WRIGHT
 |
|---|
 |
 |
The waterfall had been the family's retreat for fifteen years and when they commissioned Wright to design the house they envisioned one across from the waterfall, so that they could have it in their view. Instead, Wright integrated the design of the house with the waterfall itself, placing it right on top of it to make it a part of the Kaufmanns' lives.Wright's admiration for Japanese architecture was important in his inspiration for this house, along with most of his work. Just like in Japanese architecture, Wright wanted to create harmony between man and nature, and his integration of the house with the waterfall was successful in doing so. The house was meant to compliment its site while still competing with the drama of the falls and their endless sounds of crashing water. The power of the falls is always felt, not visually but through sound, as the breaking water could constantly be heard throughout the entire house.
CHINA ACADEMY OF ART FOLKS MUSEUM
KENGO KUMA
 |
|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The folk art museum stands in the campus of China Academy of Arts in Hangzhou. This conference center and museum is set slightly above the other buildings, on the site of an old tea garden, and takes every opportunity to express its deference and respect for Wang Shu’s architectural intentions for the campus. Wang famously salvaged seven million tiles and bricks from houses demolished during Hangzhou’s rapid modernization, and his sweeping roofs and sharp edges abstract rather than imitate traditional building forms. Kengo Kuma somehow post-postmodern historical sensitivity, combined with Wang’s psycho geographic determination to leave the contours of the bucolic hillside untouched, informs his strategy to ‘respect, [not] erase the past’. Kuma overtly reinterprets this approach, saying, ‘an arrangement was made that no slopes would be cut or modified and that the architecture would be configured to closely relate to the mountain’. To accommodate the steep grade, the plan is thus rhomboid, unfolding and cascading down the site in a series of sloping ramps, jagged rooflines and partially enclosed courtyards, in a way that both conceals and confuses the scale of the building
To sum up, context plays an important role in architecture from the past to now. It influences how the buildings work and how it serves better for the people. I do believe that context in one of the main considerations while we designing the building to enhance the quality of the space and propose an individually to the building.